I feel awful because I totally neglected to post up my ipsy June and July bags! I took pictures of them, started writing draft posts, but then just never finished editing or writing! Well, my August ipsy bag arrived two days ago and I was on it like white on rice. I loved my June and July bags, and I’m absolutely blown away by August’s bag. So, let’s take a peek at what I got!

This month’s bag is definitely my favorite design so far. June’s bag was a leopard / cheetah print, which like I mentioned in my OMG Nail Strips review, I normally don’t like any kind of animal print. July’s bag was cute, in that it was a clear neon pink plastic barrel bag, perfect for bringing to the beach. But my favorite color is purple, and I love crest imagery of any kind, so this was right up my alley. The theme this month was “Glamour Academy,” in a sort of back-to-school theme.

I was really surprised to find so many big name brands in this month’s bag! The real star is definitely the Urban Decay Revolution lipstick, which was recently released and has received rave reviews all over the Interwebs. I was itching to try them, so I was ecstatic to receive this in my bag. But let’s go down one by one.

The Michael Todd True Organics Pumpkin Nutrient-Rich Facial mask looks and smells just like pumpkin pie filling. No surprise, as the first ingredient is pumpkin puree, and it also includes ginger, allspice and nutmeg, traditional pumpkin pie spices. So, if you’re a fan of pumpkin pie, you’ll love the way this smells! Although, the texture leaves a little to be desired… When I first tried this mask, my face started stinging and burning so badly, I immediately washed it off after 5 seconds. A little later on, I decided to give it another go and powered through the initial stinging. Definitely avoid this if you have sensitive skin. After I washed it off, my skin felt soft and smooth, moisturized but tightened — unfortunately, the stinging left its mark, literally. My skin was red and blotchy, although that faded later. I’m divided on this mask. It gives great results, but at what cost? It suggests using it every 1-2 weeks, and I would definitely not use it any more than that!

This was the only real “dud” in this month’s bag, only because I already received a Mica Beauty shimmer powder in an earlier bag. That one was a oyster pink, and this is a lightened bronze-y gold. I used both for my look at the end of this post.

Close-up of the Pixi Lash Booster mascara wand

I’ve never tried any Pixi products, but I look at them every time I’m at Target. Overall, it’s a nice mascara but I really need a waterproof or curling formula in order to make my stick-straight lashes stand out a bit. It’s buildable without getting clumpy, and delivers nice length and moderate volume. I thought the wand was a standard mascara wand at first, but it’s actually got a bit of a small bulge at the tip.

This I was really surprised to see considering how big of a brand Smashbox is. There’s not much for me to say about their cult favorite primer that hasn’t already been said, in my opinion. It’s a fairly straightforward blend of silicones which helps prep your skin for makeup application and ensures longer wear. I used to use Monistat Anti-Chafing Gel as a low-end dupe of this, and they work equally well. Still, this is a great high-end sample.

Urban Decay Revolution lipstick

Urban Decay Revolution lipstick shades. I received shade 69.

And onto my favorite item by far! This is a very generously sized sample tube of the new Urban Decay Revolution lipstick. I received shade 69, a deep berry red. When they call this “creamy badass luxury,” they mean it! Application was one-stroke full coverage that felt extremely comfortable on the lips. In fact, I was test-driving this around the house and completely forgot I was even wearing anything. After 6 hours, it had disappeared on the inside due to my drinking, but the fading was almost nonexistent and there was no bleeding despite my not wearing a lipliner. This is almost unheard of for a red, especially on me. If I wasn’t already excited to try the new lipsticks, this sample has totally cemented my obsession — I absolutely need more of these! o(@w@)o

And finally, here’s a quick look I threw together using all of the products. Not that you can tell, but I did use the Michael Todd True Organics pumpkin facial mask before applying my makeup, and I primed with the Smashbox Photo Finish primer.
I tried to use other ipsy bag products, like my eyeliner is from June’s bag (Cailyn gel eyeliner in Iron) and as I mentioned above, one of the other shades of eyeshadow I used was the Mica Beauty shimmer powder in Earth (from April’s bag). The blush was Be a Bombshell in Beach Please, a bright hot pink.

And here you get a mini-update on my hair. The purple faded out long ago, although remnants of it are just clinging on for dear life! To be honest, I rather like the way it looks now, although I’m definitely planning on touching it up… eventually… (>_>;) I am letting it grow out so that I can bleach the new growth safely. I’m also thinking of interweaving some hot pink and/or blue with it. What do you think? I’m lucky my current job is pretty good about this sort of thing. xD

So, again, if it wasn’t obvious already, I am really pleased with this month’s bag! Every month ipsy has provided great value, and a good mix of different types of products. I’ve been skipping my Julep Maven subscriptions with regularity, but I’m excited every month to receive my ipsy bag. If you haven’t tried any beauty subscription service yet, I can’t recommend them highly enough.

What do you think of my August ipsy Glam bag? If you’re interested in subscribing, please consider using my referral link, which will give me free product if enough people sign up using it!